Jerome Tang is in his 15th year coaching at Baylor, following 10 seasons as head coach at nationally recognized Heritage Christian Academy in Cleveland, Texas. He has been integral in the Bears’ rise to national prominence, serving his first 14 seasons on staff as assistant coach before being promoted to associate head coach in 2017.

Tang has helped lead the Bears to six consecutive 20-win seasons, posting a 152-64 record, five NCAA Tournament appearances and an NIT title since 2011-12. Baylor has also appeared in the NCAA Tournament Sweet 16 in three of the past six seasons, twice advancing to the Elite Eight. Additionally, eight players from those six seasons have gone on to sign NBA contracts, including Quincy Acy, Pierre Jackson, Cory Jefferson, Perry Jones III, Quincy Miller, Johnathan Motley, Royce O’Neale and Taurean Prince.

The program reached new heights in 2016-17, earning Baylor’s first-ever No. 1 national ranking and a school-record fourth consecutive NCAA Tournament appearance. BU rolled to a 15-0 start, climbing from unranked to No. 1 nationally in an eight-week span. Baylor recorded wins over top-10 opponents three times in its first eight games, with victories over No. 4 Oregon, No. 7 Xavier and No. 10 Louisville, the last of which secured the 2016 Battle 4 Atlantis title. BU also defeated No. 10 West Virginia for a school-record fourth top-10 win.

The Bears tied a school record with 12 wins in Big 12 play, leading to a program-best No. 3 seed in the NCAA Tournmaent. BU knocked off New Mexico State and USC to advance to the Sweet 16 for the third time in a six-year span. It was the Bears’ ninth 20-win season in the last 10 years, accounting for nine of the 12, 20-win seasons in program history. The Bears finished the 2016-17 season ranked No. 12 nationally and had four players earn All-Big 12 honors with Motley, Manu Lecomte, Jo Lual-Acuil Jr. and Ishmail Wainright recognized. Motley won the 2017 Karl Malone Power Forward of the Year Award and was named Baylor’s first consensus All-American.

Baylor’s 2015-16 squad finished 22-12, and the Bears earned a No. 5 seed in the NCAA Tournament, marking a third consecutive NCAA Tournament berth. BU finished the season ranked No. 21 in the AP poll, the fourth-highest final ranking in program history, and Baylor was one of 13 teams to remain ranked in the coaches’ poll throughout the entire season, climbing as high as No. 13 nationally.

The 2014-15 Baylor team went 24-10 and earned a No. 3 seed in the NCAA Tournament, tying the best seed in program history and earning the program’s first-ever back-to-back NCAA Tournament appearances. The Bears knocked off a school-record seven top-25 ranked opponents. Additionally, three players earned All-Big 12 honors (Kenny Chery, Gathers, Prince), and Gathers was named an All-American.

In 2013-14, Tang helped guide Baylor to a late-season surge that led to 26 wins, including three victories in three days to reach the 2014 Big 12 Championship title game. BU then won a pair of NCAA Tournament games to advance to the Sweet 16 for the third time a five-year stretch, becoming one of only 12 programs nationally to accomplish the feat between 2010 and 2014.

Following the 2013-14 season, Jefferson was selected by the San Antonio Spurs in the 2014 NBA Draft, giving Baylor five players drafted in the three-year span from 2012-14. Fellow Bear Isaiah Austin was also honored at the draft, after the projected first-round pick had his career halted by a Marfan’s Syndrome Diagnosis.

Tang played a major role in leading Baylor to 23 wins and the program’s first national tournament championship in 2012-13, when the Bears went on a five-game run to the NIT title. For the first time in school history, every game during the 2012-13 season was televised, including a nation-leading 28 games on ESPN networks.

In addition to his assistant coaching duties, he served as interim head coach in Baylor’s first two Big 12 games of the 2012-13 season, leading BU to an overtime win against Texas and a 34-point win at Texas Tech -- the Bears’ largest-ever margin of victory in Lubbock. After the season, Jackson was selected in the 2013 NBA Draft, giving BU four draft picks in 2012-13, which ranked third nationally.

Baylor made history once again during the 2011-12 season, winning a school-record 30 games and advancing to the NCAA Tournament South Region Final for the second time in three seasons. The Bears were ranked throughout the season for the first time in program history, reaching as high as No. 3 in the polls and never dropping lower than 14th. Following the record-breaking season, the Bears had a program-record three players selected in the 2012 NBA Draft (Jones III, Acy, Miller).

During the 2009-10 season, the Bears won a then-school-record 28 games and tied for second in the Big 12 Conference standings with an 11-5 record. The Bears, who earned a No. 3 seed in the NCAA South Region, won their first NCAA Tournament game in 60 years, advancing to the Elite Eight for the first time in the modern tournament era. Baylor finished the 2009-10 season ranked No. 10 in the final ESPN/USA TODAY Coaches Top 25 poll and No. 19 in the final AP Top 25 poll.

The Bears became a national media staple during the 2008-09 season as the program set several new school records. Baylor posted back-to-back 20-win seasons for the first time in school history, while advancing to its first Big 12 Championship title game, only to fall to Missouri. During its improbable postseason run, Baylor became the first No. 9 seed to advance to the Big 12 Championship title game.

Baylor’s 2008-09 squad did something the 2007-08 Bears were unable to accomplish -- win a postseason game. The Bears advanced to the NIT championship game with a semifinal win over San Diego State at Madison Square Garden before falling to Penn State in the title game.

The Bears rose to national prominence in 2007-08, making their second NCAA Tournament appearance in 68 years (1950) and their first since 1988. BU finished with a 21-11 overall record after a first-round loss to No. 18 Purdue, marking the fourth 20-win season in program history.

PRIOR TO BAYLOR In his decade of service at Heritage Christian, Tang led the program to four state championships and built the Eagles into one of the state’s TAPPS powerhouses. His squad gained national attention in 2001, when one of Tang’s Eagles, junior Cedrick Hensley, scored 101 points in a game.

Feeding off that success, Tang and Heritage Christian became known for producing Division I athletes. Heritage Christian’s most-publicized recruit during Tang’s tenure was Vakeaton “Von” Wafer, a 2003 McDonald’s All-American who played at Florida State and was drafted with the 39th pick by the Los Angeles Lakers in the 2005 NBA draft.

Tang was also the athletic director at Heritage Christian, a birth-through-high school private school that boasted 145 students and just 30 high school students (10th-12th grades). Away from the gym, Tang served as youth pastor at First Assembly of God.

PERSONALTang earned his Bachelor of Science degree from Charter Oak State College in September 2007. Tang and his wife Careylyen are the parents of two, son Seven and daughter Aylyn.